Burlington, Vermont, Tibet Inn
Tonight is a full moon. The tent and camping gear and car are stored away. Now it’s just me and my pack. In a nod to India, my first destination, my head is shaved – the raw openness feels about right – and I am lodging at the Tibet Inn, not something I expected to find in the north woods of New England. The owned is a Tibetan exile who immigrated to America because America opened her gracious doors to the politically vulnerable. He has pictures of him with Senator Leahy of Vermont and the Dali Lama all over the lobby. I smile.a useful definition of travel:
Vagabonding – n. (1)
The act of leaving behind the orderly world to travel independently for an
extended period of time. (2) A privately meaningful manner of travel that
emphasizes creativity, adventure, awareness, simplicity, discovery,
independence, realism, self-reliance, and the growth of the spirit. (3) A
deliberate way of living that makes freedom to travel possible.
More than anything, it’s a perspective and attitude. About rediscovering the magic in everyday life, about bringing adventure to the mundane, about discovering foreign people and places, about learning to live a little like a child again, about being an explorer and life-long learner, breaking old habits, pondering life, and feeling the joy and excitement to live on this one world.
If you have traveled like this, you know the feeling. If you haven’t, this amusing video can give you a taste of the intoxicating, mind-expanding excitement and bond with humanity that once experienced will change your life forever and make you a citizen of the world (thank you Geoff):
The future horizon has narrowed to the next 72 hours –departure
to Chicago for New Delhi. When do I
arrive, how will I get to a hotel, when does the flight leave the next morning
for Rishikesh? I know not what lies before me. I am nervous, like how an astronaut
might feel before lift off or an European explorer felt before departing port
for brave new worlds. Months later, in the heart of sweltering Bangkok, a
British expat implored me to Seize the world before it seizes you. So it shall be.
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